SONAR FLEET 1 NEWSLETTER

FLEET RACING:

Sunday was one of those typical Long Island Sound days. Light wind, lots of current.

Vice Commodore and PRO Lee Morrison, back from a well-earned vacation, was able to get two races in, the first being the Vice Commodore's race.

Some say the starting line for the first race was a little skewed. Maybe. But how bad could it have been? A little simple geometry and we have a line the appears perpendicular to the wind...

:-) Anyway...

We had our biggest turn-out of the year with 17 boats racing. The first race, a W2, had the best wind of the day with about 7 knots out of the SE, no wait, East.

As usual, tight races with crowed mark roundings were the norm. In the end, the race was won by Jim Linville and team Fast Forward with Peter Galloway and Paul Steinborn

Peter Galloway and Jim Linville

Second place went to Team 506 with Karl Ziegler, Matt Cohen, Wynne Shapiro and TK. Third was Team 772 with Scott Harrison, Chris Shapiro, Adam Westerman and Don Vasta

For the second race, a D1, the wind really got light. We had two general recalls after most of the fleet was pushed over the line by the out-going current. 

In the end, the second race was won by Team 506, with Fast Forward in second and Team 627 with Will Vernon, Corey Vernon, Kat Nestor and Bill Vernon, in third.

For the day, we ended with a tie for first between two boats each with three points and a three way tie for third. As you can guess from the above, Team 506 won the day by taking the gun in the second race, giving Team Fast Forward second place.

Team 506

The three boats tied for third each had 12 points. Bob Monro with Team 605, Morgan Connor with Team 654 and Tom Ross with Team 620. The tie-breaker went to Bob Monro on the strength of his fourth place finish in the first race. Joining Bob was Eric Ploumis, Michael Rudnick, Francesca and Ian Monro.

Full results posted here: http://www.fleet1.org/

CONDUCT ON THE RACE COURSE:

Now... We all saw "mistakes" out racing on Sunday. In fact, there are "mistakes" every week. We can be a very aggressive fleet but we almost NEVER protest anyone. The result is that the person who made the "mistake" doesn't do his turn (or two).

It's not everyone, some of us are honorable and after realizing they made a mistake, do a turn even if no flag is raised but too many of us feel that if no one protests, they have "gotten away" with their aggressive behavior.

If boats continue to be aggressive, we should also be more aggressive about using our protest flags. It's time to say...

There, I feel better.

REGATTAS:

Last chance to register for the Atlantic Coast Championships. They are being held this coming weekend in Marblehead.

This is the third in the "Road to the Worlds" series and a great opportunity to sail against some top boats we don't normally see.

Register here: http://www.sailingworld.com/nood-regattas/marblehead

The New England Championships are being hosted by Vineyard Haven YC on August 9-11. The NOR is available from the SCA website: http://www.sonar.org/

As we all know, the world championships are being held September 18-22 in Rochester NY. After speaking with the regatta chairs, we now have commitments from teams coming in from the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

The goal is to get 45 boats on the line. Fleet 1 will play an important part in reaching that goal. I believe we can get 15 boats up there but we need your help. The time to start planning is now. The regatta is Wed-Sun so get your team together, get the time off from work, book your hotels and register. The registration fee is refundable if plans change but, like everything else, the sooner you do it, the easier everything becomes (and less expensive).

TEAM RACING:

Our next big race is this weekend, July 27-28. Noroton is participating in the Grand Masters event at NYYC's Harbor Court in Newport.

The Grand Masters is followed by the Hinman Masters on August 2-4 and the Morgan Cup varsity event on August 9-11 both also at NYYC's Harbor Court.

The Sonar team racers are planning to practice this evening, Tuesday July 23 and Saturday morning. There are crew spots available, so if you're interested in sailing, please let Clemmie know at Noroton YC Team Racing: norotontr@gmail.com

CALENDAR:

ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 9-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

SONAR FLEET 1 NEWS

FLEET RACING:

Sunday turned into a pretty good day of racing. We had 14 boats on the line. With a fairly consistent southwest breeze at 6-8 knots and a solid RC (despite some radio communication challenges), yours truly as PRO was able to run three races, a W2, D1 and W1.

Current proved to be an issue, forcing general recalls in each of the first two races. Once underway, the racing was tight with three different boats taking the gun and six different boats with top three finishes.

Team 500 lead the fleet, pretty much start to finish, in the first race, followed by Bruce Kirby with Scott Harrison's team 772 in third.

The second race was won by Team 506 with Karl Ziegler, followed by Scott Harrison and Ed Sweeney's team 454.

In the final race of the day, Fast Forward took the gun followed by Ed Sweeney and Karl Ziegler.

In the end, we had a tie for first and a tie for second. Ed Sweeney and Peter Galloway each finished with 11 points. Winning the second place tie-breaker on the strength of his bullet in the third race was Team Fast Forward.

For first place, Karl Ziegler and Scott Harrison each finished with 9 points. Karl and team 506 won the tie-breaker with a bullet in the second race.

Full results: http://www.fleet1.org/

First place tie (l to r) Scott Harrison, Chris Shapiro, Karen Harrison, Adam Westerman,
Charlotte Saxe, TK, Karl Ziegler and Matt Cohen
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Here are some great shots taken by Joanna Bridges on the pin boat.  Click on each image to see a larger version. More can be found in the club website photo gallery:

REGATTAS:

There are two more chances to participate in major Sonar regattas prior to the world championships. The Atlantic Coast Championships are being held the weekend of July 27-28 at Eastern YC in conjunction with the Marblehead NOOD.

Registrations for the ACC are starting to come in. In addition to the local boats, there are currently three boats going from Rochester, one from Nova Scotia, one from Nyack, and (so far) one from Noroton.

This is the third in the "Road to the Worlds" series and a great opportunity to sail against some top boats we don't normally see.

The New England Championships are being hosted by Vineyard Haven YC on August 9-11. The NOR is available from the SCA website: http://www.sonar.org/

As we all know, the world championships are being held September 18-22 in Rochester NY. After speaking with the regatta chairs, we now have commitments from teams coming in from the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

The goal is to get 45 boats on the line. Fleet 1 will play an important part in reaching that goal. I believe we can get 15 boats up there but we need your help. The time to start planning is now. The regatta is Wed-Sun so get your team together, get the time off from work, book your hotels and register. The registration fee is refundable if plans change but, like everything else, the sooner you do it, the easier everything becomes (and less expensive).

TEAM RACING:

Our next big race is coming up July 27-28. Noroton is participating in the Grand Masters event at NYYC's Harbor Court in Newport. The Grand Masters is followed by the Hinman Masters on August 2-4 and the Morgan Cup varsity event on August 9-11 both also at NYYC's Harbor Court.

The Sonar team racers are planning to practice Thursday evening and Saturday morning. There are crew spots available, so if you're interested in sailing, please let Clemmie know at Noroton YC Team Racing norotontr@gmail.com

FLEET 1 COOKOUT:

Our thanks to Jan and Chip Raymond for hosting last Sunday's cookout. Perfect weather, great food, terrific location and you can't beat the company... it doesn't get any better.

We still need a volunteer to host the cookout scheduled for August 18. Please raise your hand if you are willing to lend it.

CALENDAR:

ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 9-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

SONAR FLEET 1 NEWS

FLEET RACING:

Our 4th of July series was scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 4 and Sunday, July 7.

Thursday's weather was as good as it gets on Long Island Sound in July. Racing was no different. The PRO for the day was Commodore Randy Tankoos, who ran three races including the Commodore's Race which was the first race of the day.

12 boats were on the line. Of those only two managed to finish all three races with top 5 finishes...team 506 with Karl Zeigler, Scott Macleod, TK and Samantha MacLeod who had finishes of 1, 2, 3 and Team 500 with Will and Gillian Graves, Sam Knapp and James Antoszewski, with finishes of 3, 4, 5. All other boats had at least one mid-fleet finish.

At the end of the day, there was a tie for third between team 500 and team Fast Forward, each with 12 points. The tie-breaker went to Fast Forward with Peter Galloway, Paul Steinborn, Adam Westerman and Cooper Pellaton on the strength of a first place finish in the second race.

Second place was team 454 with Ed Sweeney, Art Collins, Leo Schlinkert and Alan Desantis, who finished the three races with a 2, 7, 1.

First place was team 507 with a total of only 6 points (see above).

Sunday was not as exciting. In fact, with too little breeze to work with, PRO Jim Crane (thankfully) kept us on the dock until abandoning racing for the day.

So, Thursday's finishes became the final results for the series.

First Place:

TK, Peggy Hersam and Karl Ziegler

Second Place:

Art Collins, Ed Sweeney and Leo Schlinkert

Full results: http://www.fleet1.org/

REGATTAS:

There are two more chances to participate in major Sonar regattas prior to the world championships. The Atlantic Coast Championships are being held the weekend of July 27-28 at Eastern YC in conjunction with the Marblehead NOOD.

The New England Championships are being hosted by Vineyard Haven YC on August 9-11. The NOR is available from the SCA website: http://www.sonar.org/

As we all know, the world championships are being held September 18-22 in Rochester NY. After speaking with the regatta chairs, we now have commitments from teams coming in from the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

The goal is to get 45 boats on the line. Fleet 1 will play an important part in reaching that goal. I believe we can get 15 boats up there but we need your help. The time to start planning is now. The regatta is Wed-Sun so get your team together, get the time off from work, book your hotels and register. The registration fee is refundable if plans change but, like everything else, the sooner you do it, the easier everything becomes (and less expensive).

TEAM RACING:

Our next big race is coming up July 27-28. Noroton is participating in the Grand Masters event at NYYC's Harbor Court in Newport. The Grand Masters is followed up by the Hinman Masters on August 2-4 and the Morgan Cup varsity event on August 9-11 both also at NYYC's Harbor Court.

The Sonar team racers are planning to practice Thursday evening and Saturday morning. There are crew spots available, so if you're interested in sailing, please let Clemmie know.

Noroton YC Team Racing norotontr@gmail.com

FLEET 1 BARBECUE:

Our next barbecue is scheduled for this coming Sunday, July 14, after racing. Please plan on staying for dinner.

CALENDAR:

Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 9-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22

SONAR FLEET ONE NEWS

FLEET RACING:

Sunday was another great day for racing. Nice breeze, not much sun and the rain held off until after the boats were put away.

PRO Tom Ross and the RC had their hands full after a big righty came through just before the start of race one. The wind settled in after that allowing us to get three races in.

After racing two D1's and a W1, Scott Harrison, sailing on Fast Forward with Chris Shapiro, Adam Westerman and Peter Galloway finished first with a commanding 4 point day. Lee Morrison finished second with 10 points followed closely by Glenn Morrison with 12.

Adam, Peter and Scott with their first place cups.

Here's a nice write up by Scott:

“Unsettled Weather kept us guessing”

This Sunday was challenging with the wind rotating south and a strong flooding current.

I was lucky to find Peter Galloway without crew, so he substituted for Warren, who was busy with the Girls opti regatta

We left the harbor and the wind was NE and as PRO Tom Ross set up, the wind moved right.  For your 1st  D1, starboard tack was the long tack, and with the current, the course geometry required you to find a lane and point to the mark on Starboard.  We had a poor start, bailed right and hipped up off Lee.  Luckily, several right hand boats over stood and we rounded 4th  behind Lee, Ed Sweeney and Glenn Morrison.  Peter called a jibe set, which I have never done in the Sonar, which allowed us to have an inside lane. Lee was first around all marks.

The wind settled into a 160-180 degree direction for the rest of the day.  The 2nd D1 was square and Peter thought the left had more pressure. With a clean start and only one tack to the port layline, we met Bill Jason and Basil Lyden who were double handling 500. They went right, we went left and Bill is 1st around. Downwind, we split and edge them out at the leeward mark.  We shoot the line to edge them out at the finish.

The 3rd race is a W1, so a good start is important. We play the same song again, middle left, and hit nice pressure, flip and cross. Thank you Peter.

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN:

Not all was perfect on Sunday...

2013 - Schultz/Norton

2012 - Tom Ross

Time to check the connection between your shroud turnbuckle and the chainplate. I bet John Schultz knows the name of this part:

BEFORE

AFTER

JULY 4TH SERIES:

Our 4th of July series starts on Thursday and continues on Sunday. The first race on Thursday is also the Commodore's race. Harbor start is 12:30 both days.

Sonar fleet prizes will be awarded after racing on Sunday.

REGATTAS:

There are two more chances to participate in major Sonar regattas prior to the world championships. The Atlantic Coast Championships are being held the weekend of July 26-28 at Eastern YC in conjunction with the Marblehead NOOD.

The New England Championships are being hosted by Vineyard Haven YC on August 9-11. The NOR is available from the SCA website: http://www.sonar.org/

As we all know, the world championships are being held September 18-22 in Rochester NY. After speaking with the regatta chairs, we now have commitments from teams coming in from the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

The goal is to get 45 boats on the line. Fleet 1 will play an important part in reaching that goal. I believe we can get 15 boats up there but we need your help. The time to start planning is now. The regatta is Wed-Sun so get your team together, get the time off from work, book your hotels and register. The registration fee is refundable if plans change but, like everything else, the sooner you do it, the easier everything becomes (and less expensive).

TEAM RACING:

Because of Independence Day, we are going to have sonar team this evening (Tuesday) and the John Mollicone clinic is on Wednesday evening. Please let me know if you'd like to sail.

Some video clips from sailing on Saturday:

Rob Crane is one of the best laser sailors in the world, but in this CLIP, you can see that he forgets that a sonar has a keel. Red has a 1-4-6 at the windward mark -- Peter recognizes that and as the first place red boat, holds onto first. Rob realizes that as the fourth place boat, he needs to trap Lee in 5th and pass his teammate through to establish a 1-4-5, but Rob slows too late and too much, and Lee has a full head of steam so he sails right over him.

HERE is a more effective move at the windward mark. TK in blue NYC 3 pins the red boat past the layline, creating space for Steve to tack inside and round first. Blue establishes a 1-2, which they held for the rest of the race.

If you think that team racing can get complicated, HERE is evidence that yes, it can. Red double traps blue at the leeward mark, allowing Rob to go through and establish a 2-3-4, but on the offset leg, TK comes back on starboard to attack and disrupts the blue combination. Fortunately, there wasn't that much wind, so it happens in close to slow motion. Even more complicated was this rounding, when at one point three boats were on starboard rounding mark 4.

Finally, HERE'S another leeward mark situation, when the red boat sneaks past by getting an inside overlap on the first place blue boat.

Clemmie
Noroton YC Team Racing norotontr@gmail.com

CALENDAR:

July 4th Series: Thu July 4, Sun July 7
Fleet barbecue: July 14 after racing
ACC: Eastern YC, July 26-28
New England Champs: Vineyard Haven YC, August 9-11
Fleet Barbecue: August 18 after racing
Labor Day Series: Sun-Mon, Sep 1-2
Kirby Cup: Noroton YC, Sat-Sun, Sep 7-8
2013 World Championships: Rochester YC, September 18-22